This summer, students enrolled in Mandarin had a chance to go on the trip of a lifetime. Students spent the whole day in and out of airports to finally make it over the Pacific Ocean and arrived in China the night of July 6th on the other side of the world. The time spent travelling felt like an eternity, but in the end, it was all worth it. They flew from New York to Chicago, where they met up with several other students from two other cities, and then finally made the long trek to their final destination, Beijing.  Once we arrived, we saw that the hotel had small rooms, but it was enough to fit two people per room.

Each year, the Confucius Institute sponsors a two-week trip to China for high school and college students, called the Chinese Bridge Summer Camp.  This trip provides students with the opportunity to visit China’s many historical sites, improve their Mandarin, enjoy great food, shop in local markets, and participate in many other wonderful cultural activities,” Mandarin teacher Mrs. Tracy Pi, who has taken students on this trip for many years, said.

The first few days were mainly spent in a classroom where we learned about everything from culture to Chinese painting and even Tai Chi. At last the day came when we would finally take the bus ride to historic sights such as Gu Gong’s palace and walk the Great Wall! It was pretty steep with big ramps and stairways. That was the big highlight of the trip for Beijing, that is, until we got to Xi’an. In order to get there, the students had to board the bullet train which went about 308 km/h at its fastest point. Even at such a high speed it took about 3 hours to pass tons of farmland and little towns. The hotel rooms in the countryside were much bigger compared to the ones back in Beijing.

Xi’an held the second highlight of the trip: the Terracotta Warriors. The whole exhibit contained 3 separate pits where the clay sculptures of soldiers and horses have been excavated, with more yet to be uncovered. The exhibits are part of the large tomb of the first emperor Qin Shi Huang,who ruled during the Qin Dynasty.  However a large portion of the site was destroyed by a fire, which is seen in the third pit where nearly all the unearthed soldiers were shattered.

One of the last visits was to the Muslim Snack Street, which is known to be a popular tourist destination.  We bought a ton of gifts and souvenirs to take home. They had everything from hats to little handcrafted sculptures. There was even a vendor selling string puppets!

“Students had the opportunities to do many different cultural activities, like Beijing Opera Face Painting, Chinese Calligraphy, Kungfu-Taiji practice, Paper Cutting, Chinese Painting, [and] Karaoke” Mrs. Pi said.

Eventually the two weeks were up and it was time to head home. Unfortunately, we had to part ways in the end as different flights separated us from each other. The Massapequa kids and two other students from a different city than the rest took a flight back to the airport in Beijing and flew for another 13 hours to the airport in Chicago. At last, the remaining students, absolutely exhausted from the time spent flying, were on their way home.  

“This trip was not only a chance for students to improve their language skills but also a once in a lifetime experience to firsthand learn and witness Chinese culture, food, and language.” Mrs. Pi said.

Overall, this was a great experience for students from different places to interact with each other and make friends. This was the trip of a lifetime that we will always remember!